


Magnetic Gaze

by Caplover0704



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bucky was born in 1986, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-18 20:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3583059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caplover0704/pseuds/Caplover0704
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has a Soulmate, a Completed that makes you whole, and the moment you meet their gaze you know because your entire world has changed. Until the moment you meet you are drawn to each other, given Impressions of their thoughts memories and feelings. Bucky Barnes hates this fact because there is only one person he has ever received an Impression from, and how could a decades dead Captain America be his other half?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea playing around in my head for awhile. I really wanted to try my hand at a Soulmate AU, but make it a little different. Hope you like!

                Every child grew up with the Completed adults around them explaining how fantastic it is to finally feel their souls sew together. To know that the pulls to places and things, that the thoughts feelings and memories you feel and see that are not your own are truly connected to a real living human being. That now they truly have a completed soul.

                When Bucky Barnes was five years old he thought nothing could be better then finally seeing your soulmate for the first time, of finally being able to look into their eyes. His mom and dad were Completed and they always talked about how they felt when they first looked into each other’s gaze. So as a very young boy he would picture different eyes that could belong to his other half.

                Any color, shape and size; he pictured them all. The ones that stood out the most though were bright blue oval eyes with an expanse of long lashes.

                He told his mother, wondering why of all the eyes he pictured, those were the most prominent. She had smiled widely and hugged him tight, explaining that it was his first Impression, his first sign of who his other half was.

                Bucky was elated. He was really young to be getting such a clear Impression. So every day for the next few years he eagerly waited for another to show up, only to steadily get more and more depressed when it never happened.

                “It’s okay James.” His mom had told him one night when he came to her with tears in his eyes. “There’s no set clock on how these things happen.”

                “What if they died?” He asked, fear clouding his little voice.

                “Oh sweetie, don’t worry. You’d know if they had died. Don’t worry love, you’ll see more.”

                And he did, but not until his fourth grade history time. The teacher had just handed out thick red books and was explaining that these would be their introduction to American History books he wasn’t listening though; something urged him to flip through the glossy pages until he stopped at one, his eyes zeroing in on one image.

                It was of a man in a red white and blue outfit, one of his hands raised to his forehead in a salute. HE had a smile on his face, but what Bucky was drawn to was the bright blue eyes. Eyes that he recognized.

                He let out a loud gasp and waved his hand around in the air until his teacher stopped and looked at him.

                “Yes James?”

                “Who’s this?” he asked, lifting the book to show her.”

                “That’s Captain Steven Rogers, Captain America. He was a hero in World War Two. We’ll cover him in a couple weeks.”

                “Did he die?”

                She gave him a small smile. “Like I said, we’ll cover him in a couple weeks okay?”

                “So he did die? Did he have kids?”

She sighed and shook her head. “No James. Captain Rogers never found his other half or had a family before he died tragically young. We’ll cover him more later okay?”

                He just nodded and looked back at the picture, confusion filling him at why the image made him feel strange, almost fuzzy.

                “What’s your deal with Captain America?” his friend whispered to him.

                Bucky wanted to tell him how seeing  Captain America made him feel light, how he was drawn to his image, but he didn’t know what it meant and was afraid of admitting so. So he just flashed a smile and shrugged.

                “He looks cool. Like a superhero or something.”

                “Well duh! Haven’t you seen his comic books? He has a whole series about how awesome he was and all the Nazi butt he kicked!”

                Bucky hadn’t. He’d never heard of Captain America before, but he wanted to know more. So the moment he got home he went straight to his dad to ask.

                “Course I do son. Your friend was right, he was a real hero. I think I have some of the comics somewhere. Do you want to read them?”

                He nodded enthusiastically, wanting to know all about the Captain.

                “Okay I’ll find them for you. Remember though, these are fiction, barely anything in them is fact about the real man.”

                As he read the colorful pages, being sure to carefully handle them, a feeling of disappointment began to creep up on him. Nothing he read gave him the same pull, the same fluttery fuzzy feeling. The stories were cool, and the bravery of Captain America was awe inspiring to his nine year old mind, but what his dad had said was true. This was all fiction.

                So he waited eagerly for the section on him in class and almost jumped out of his sea when he found out that Captain Rogers was from Brooklyn. Bucky was from Brooklyn! They really did have a connection!

                When his teacher said that before he took the serum to become Captain America he was just a regular guy with many health problems, Bucky raised his hand.

                “Yes James?”

                “Asthma right? It hurt him to breathe sometimes.”

                She smiled and nodded. “Correct! You did some research I see!”

                “Uh, yeah!”

                He hadn’t researched the man. He just knew that sometimes he wasn’t able to get enough air into lungs that wouldn’t let him. He didn’t know how he knew, and it only made him want to know more.

                The lesson on Steve Rogers wasn’t nearly enough for him, and no lesson or book he read ever was. Every teacher or author swore that it was new information they would be learning or writing about, but for some reason there were just too many things that Bucky just seemed to know.

                His eighth grade history teacher was shocked when Bucky effortlessly told him that before the military, Captain Rogers wanted to be a comic artist, even went to art school, and that he spent most of his free time drawing the scenery around him.

                It was that same year that he realized what the intense fuzzy feeling he had at every one of these thoughts was.

                A new girl named Elizabeth joined their class and Completed with his friend Danny.

                The whole school was excited about it, and Danny explained to him that when he had looked into Elizabeth’s eyes it was like a more intense version of the warmth he felt when he saw husky dogs or pictures of mountains. Things that meant something to her. It was the way he felt the bond that bound the two of them together.

                Bucky thought about it for days. The comforting fuzzy feeling he got when he saw Captain Roger’s image, or the Brooklyn Bridge, or the café a few blocks from his house, was that him feeling the bond? And if it was, why was it centered on a man who had been dead since 1945?

                A few days before his fifteenth birthday he hesitatingly went to his mom and asked. “When I was five you said I would know if my other half was dead. How would you know?”

                She almost dropped the plates in her hands and gave him a wide eyed look. “Bucky?”

                “I’m just curious.”

                “People say that when your other half dies before you Complete that it leaves you empty. You feel like there’s nothing out there, nothing to tether you to life.” She gave him a concerned look. “You don’t feel like that do you?”

                He quickly reassured her that he didn’t feel that. He could feel a tether out there; he knew his other half was still there.

                She was relieved, but it had answered nothing for him. He felt connected to his other half, but everything he saw from them confused him. Everything was linked to Steve Rogers. How could that be possible?

                In June, after a trip to Cooney Island with his family left his head so fuzzy that all he could do is stand there with a dazed smile on his face he finally told someone what he had been feeling since he was nine. He told his sister Rebecca.

                She just sat beside him and held his hand as he talked about the confusion his Impressions gave him. He talked about how he was certain they came from a dead man, yet he still felt alive, still felt like he was out there.

                When he finished speaking she gave a little shrug. “Maybe they’re a historian or something? Someone who made Captain America their life?”

                “But-“

                “Bucky Captain America is dead. That’s not possible.”

                “It just feels so real. No one else around us seems to know that Steve Rogers was color blind. Or that he was the child of a single Irish mother. I just keep knowing these obscure things! I feel crazy!”

                “A historian would probably know. Don’t worry, you aren’t crazy.”

                He felt like it. Despite Becca’s reassurances he knew it wasn’t just some Steve Rogers expert he was feeling. Nothing came to him that wasn’t from the Captain. No memories or likes. A not once had he felt any emotions. Why wouldn’t he unless his soulmate was dead?

                That couldn’t be possible though! He didn’t feel empty and alone. Just frustrated.

                It wasn’t until September that he had another new Impression. Terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and tried for the White House. It was terrifying and devastating and all Bucky was able to feel was an intense urge to enlist, to fight and defend his country.

                At first he thought it was the first emotional Impression he was getting, but that wasn’t right. It was more like knowing that enlisting is what is other half would do, what he would deem honorable and right.

                He was a freshman in high school at that point, and everyone was beginning to say that they needed to start to figure out what to do with their lives. In that moment he had decided. He had decided to join the military, to do something his other half would have been proud of.

                He told no one. They wouldn’t understand. So he waited and went through high school living like a normal teen. He did the best he could, excelling in everything, especially science.  A part of him knew that he did it all for a man that he would never meet, that would never see him or know how hard he worked to make him proud.

Bucky didn’t care though. He had come to terms with the fact that he would never truly know his soulmate and had made the decision to live as if he was with him anyway. So on his eighteenth birthday he proudly went to the recruiter and enlisted.

The decision was met with mixed reactions. His father was proud, pulling him into a tight hug while his mother and sisters were surprised and worried. Rebecca came into his room that night and glared at him.

                “This is because of him isn’t it?”

                “You don’t understand Becca!” He reacted angrily. “You get Impressions of a guy you know is alive, he’s out there somewhere and someday you will get to meet him! Someday he will love you. All I get are memories and facts of a man long dead, but because he’s kept alive by memory my stupid fucking heart doesn’t realize that! My soulmate is gone Becca! All I can do now is what I know would have made him proud, what I know we would have done together.”

                “Bucky you don’t know that he’s your other half!”

                “I see the color yellow and I get this warm fuzziness in my heart and know it’s because Steve Rogers used to only really see yellow and it was the color he associated with happiness!” He sighed sadly and shrugged.  “I don’t know why my soul is so messed up to not even know that it’s permanently broken, but it is. And if doing something to feel close to him makes me feel whole I will. It just feels right.”

                She just walked up to him and collapsed into his arms, whispering quietly to him. “Just don’t die.”

                “I’ll try my best not to. I promise.”

                Joining the Army was the best decision he made. He excelled at basic, was a brilliant sniper and had an exemplary record. He followed orders and worked better and harder than he ever had in his life. After only five years he was promoted to Sergeant.

                Within the next year though it slowly became less of a good decision. The missions became harder and the deployments longer. He was overseas in July of 2009 and the fact that he was going to miss July 4th saddened him. He was going to miss the intense fuzziness and warmth he always felt as he watched the fireworks. He only felt worse about it as he listened to his entire unit talk about their other halves.

                “What about you Sarge?” one of his men asked after waxing poetic about his wife’s face for about an hour. “You got a Completed back home?”

                He shook his head and sighed heavily at their sympathetic looks. “Haven’t met ‘em yet.”

                “Still getting your Impressions though?”

                “I’m only twenty four guys. I’m not some poor ancient soul that’s only half complete. I’ll get there.”

                His words hurt, because he knew he’d never get to be Complete with his Captain. As long as he had his fuzzies to tide him over, he would live a happy life. He wouldn’t let it get to him.

                An IED almost stopped him from feeling another fuzzy ever again. One moment they were driving along and the next he felt nothing but an explosion of pain. Pain and screams. He couldn’t see a thing through the haze and the only thing he was able to think was,

‘Hey, maybe I will get to meet my Captain sooner than I thought after all.’

                He didn’t die though. He didn’t leave his life behind in that desert. Just his entire left arm.

                Waking up weeks later in an American hospital should have been the best day of his life. His family was all there, he was home and he never had to go back. It really was the best until he asked his mom to see if the nurse could get him more pain meds. Most of his body felt great, but it felt like his left arm was on fire.

                His mom started to cry, confusing him until she managed to speak. “Oh Bucky, sweetie. Sweetie you don’t have a left arm to feel. It couldn’t be saved sweetie. It’s just phantom pain. I’m so, so sorry.”

                He didn’t know how to react, didn’t know what to say or do. So just did the first thing he thought of. He cried. He curled into his moms arms and cried until he could barely breathe. He cried until no more tears could come.

                In a way he guessed it was fitting. His soul would eternally be incomplete, so his body might as well match the interior.

                Yet it still took days before he even accepted the fact. He could still feel it, how could it be gone? It took even longer before he would look at what was left, and once he had all he could do was start crying again.

                The doctor assured him that having nothing there could be very temporary, and as soon as it had been completely healed he could be fitted with a top of the line prosthetic.

                “I don’t have the money for that Doc.” He informed the man and just received a warm smile in return.

                “You won’t have to pay a thing Sergeant Barnes. It’s part of Stark Industries’ new military policy. Mr. Stark has gotten into human prosthesis and every military amputee is guaranteed one.”

                “And it’s the best?” his dad asked.

                “Absolutely. It works almost just like a real arm and is made out of a metal alloy. They’re in the beginning stages though, so Stark Industries will want to do regular maintenance for a while, but it’s there for your son if he wants it.”

                “Metal? So Bucky’ll be like a cyborg?” the youngest Barnes girl exclaimed excitedly.

                Bucky gave her a smile but was internally cringing. He didn’t want a fancy cyborg Stark arm. He wanted his real flesh and blood one. Although, if there was one thing he knew in his life it was that there was no sense wishing for the impossible. So he nodded his head in agreement.

                “Yeah, I’ll take the prosthesis.”

                He only had to live lopsidedly for a few months before he was fitted into the shiny metal arm. The doctor had really been right. He could move and control it just like the right one. It was sleek and light with fancy plating and a light weight material. He instantly both loved and hated it.

                Despite now having an arm, Bucky felt like a shattered human. His nights were haunted and his days were haunted and it took him locking himself in his new apartment for a week for him to realize how awful he felt.

                The hospital, army and his parents had all advised him to see a shrink, and at first he refused. He lost his arm over there, not his mind. He knew they were right though. He knew that no matter the amount of time he tried to deny it, the inevitable PTSD would not just vanish. He needed help.

                He found a therapist at the local VA and she was very helpful. Kind, honest, she listened to him when he spoke and didn’t treat him like less of a human. He liked her a lot and yet was still annoyed by the question when she came to it.

                “Do you have a Completed to help you at home?”

                He once again had to shake his head and explain that no, he’s not whole. No he hasn’t found them in anyway. Yes he gets Impressions but they haven’t led him anywhere.

                She just nodded her head in understanding and told him that she didn’t find her Completed until she was in her mid-thirties. He would get there.

                She suggested that in the meantime, his Impressions could help him. Could ground him when he felt an attack coming.

                He took her advice and that night when he woke screaming the first thing he thought of was his fuzzies.

                He closed his eyes and with a deep breath thought of the first thing he knew to associate with his Captain. A sunrise and the Brooklyn Bridge. He pictured a yellow gold light rising over the water while he and the blue eyed man sat together and watched as the sky exploded in color. He pictured Steve Rogers as he was before the serum and as the fuzzy warmth flooded through him he was able to breathe again.

                He vaguely wondered if that’s what his asthma attacks had felt like and instantly wished he had been there to comfort him as the Captain had just been there for him.

                Using his fuzzies continued to help him a lot. He used them every time a panic attack was coming, every time he heard or saw something that brought him back to the desert and most commonly every time he felt alone. 

                In the summer of 2010, a year after he came home, his therapist asked him if he felt ready to go back into the world.

                “You must get lonely right James?”

                He shrugged. “I see my mom dad and sisters.”

                “You don’t go out with friends at all though?”

                “A couple come over occasionally, but I haven’t wanted to go out to a bar or anything.”

                “Have you had anymore thought on what you want to do without the military?”

                “Science.” He replied instantly. “I’ve always liked science.”

                “Oh? What kind?”

                “Mechanics. Engineering recently because of this.” He lifted the metal arm. “I’ve been really intrigued by it and making things that can help others like this does me.”

                “Have you thought about school then? The Army benefits will pay for college you know.”

                He hadn’t really. The only thing he had thought to use from the military was the money he used to live. With the thought in his head though, school quickly began to sound like a good thing to at least try.

                So he made the decision to start in the fall of that year. It was different to any other experience he had had in his life and he was really starting to enjoy it.

                The classes were fun but yet challenging and informative. He met lots of different people and started to make friends that he had real human interactions with. He slowly needed to concentrate on his fuzzies less and less, but it caused a fear of losing them and his only link to his other half to begin to grip him.

                He wasn’t getting any new Impressions, most things around him he had heard and seen before, and the only new things he took in were from his futuristic classes that had no link to his Captain. He was starting to think he would never get a new Impression and was beginning to contemplate taking a World War Two history class just to have a link to him. He was afraid if he didn’t he would know no more about his Captain and be stuck at where he was.

                It was early 2012 when he proved himself wrong and received an Impression he never thought he would. He was in a small class, intently listening to the Professor talk, when a huge sense of panic enveloped him.

                He gasped and fell out of his chair, his hands lifting to grasp his hair. What was going on? There was nothing for him to panic about. Why was he?

                After a moment he realized this wasn’t his emotions. He could feel the disconnected fuzziness to it, but it was overrun by the strength of the emotion. The panic was so overwhelming that he just sat there, rocking in place. Seconds later the panic morphed to momentary confusion and then instantly to intense sadness.

                Tears came to his eyes and he didn’t know what to do. His own emotions were nothing but confused. How was this happening? How was he getting real emotions? Had he been wrong?

                As quickly as it came, the Impression stopped and he was left panting on the floor of his classroom with a tear streaked face.

                He looked up to see his fifteen classmates and the Professor staring worriedly at him.

                “James are you okay?”

                He nodded and stumbled to his feel only to collapse in his chair.

                “Is your Completed okay?”  A girl asked him in a confused voice.

                “I don’t know. We haven’t met.”

                The Professors eyes widened and he asked, “That was a Stranger Impression?”

                “Yeah it was. Uh, it was the first Emotional one I’ve gotten.”

                He frowned and clasped Bucky on the shoulder. “You should head home James. Rest. That had to have exhausted you.”

                He did so, walking back to his apartment in a stupor. For the last twelve years he had been so certain that his soulmate was Steve Rogers. Could he possibly have been wrong? Is there any other explanation for what he had just felt? The Captain was dead, and unless he started feeling a ghost’s feelings, or was tapping into the past, he had to have been wrong. And that hurt so bad.

                For a month and a half he continued to get Impressions of sadness and then anger. Fear and then loneliness. Confusion was also a very prominent one, and most of the time it was his own emotion as well.

                Until one day in May, he was sitting in the café that gave him such a warm Impression staring blankly at his finals paper he was trying to write when the overwhelming need to have the TV on hit him and he waved over a waitress.

                “Excuse me? Could you turn the TV on?”

                “Any particular channel?”

                 “No just on.” He shrugged and flashed a smile which she returned before moving to the television.

                The second it was on he gasped, as did every other patron before they ran outside, trying to catch a glimpse of what was on screen.

                Downtown Manhattan was being attacked by what appeared to be aliens. Yeah, those absolutely were aliens! Bucky was appalled and terrified to no end, but what really drew his attention was the man clad in familiar red white and blue.

                He glared at the screen. Was that some man impersonating Captain America? Is that whose emotions he had been feeling? The thought angered him. He didn’t want some copycat. He wanted Steve Rogers.

                He knew it was this man’s Impressions he had been receiving when a shot of him being thrown out of a window coincided exactly with a fuzzy pain emitting through his chest and stomach.

                He hissed and bent in on himself reflexively before looking up to make sure that the man was okay and then gasped.

                The mask had fallen off and beneath filthy blonde hair, framed by long lashes were the eyes that he knew. The face that he knew. This wasn’t some imposter. By some insane impossibility it was truly Steve Rogers.

                Bucky wanted to stand and run from that Brooklyn diner, run to his Captain’s side and help him fight of real life aliens. He couldn’t though. He knew that. So instead he was just stuck frozen in place as he watched the fight carry on. Watched and felt every little hit that Steve received.

                Loud cheers filled his ears as the portal thing closed, but he still felt worry from his Captain, so something still must be wrong. Moments later, after a figure fell from the sky, the worry was replaced by relief and he let out a relived sigh of his own.

                In a matter of minutes Bucky’s entire life had changed. He spent most of his life thinking he had a soulmate he could never meet, that he was doomed to be Incomplete forever. Now though, now he had proof that he had a real living breathing other half and he would do anything he could to bring them together.

                Thinking that it could bring him closer to Steve, Bucky volunteered to help with the cleanup in the immediate days that followed and was taken in gratefully. When he told those in charge that he had an advanced metal arm they happily stuck him in the worst possible assignment. Retrieval. He had to dig through rubble, moving the heavy parts aside in a hunt for any trapped persons.

                He almost refused, but he could see the tears, fear and worry on many of the surrounding faces. They were the loved ones of the people still lost in the wreckage and needed all the hope and help they could get. So he squared his shoulders, thought of Steve’s very alive face and got to work.

                The fuzzies surrounding his mind could only help for so long, and after uncovering yet another young body he bolted away from the destroyed building, dropped to his knees and lost everything in his stomach.

                A water bottle was suddenly in front of his face and a soothing deep voice came from behind him. “Here. Wish I could say it gets better but it never really does.”

                “You military?” Bucky asked without looking up, swishing water in his mouth to remove the taste before spiting it out.

                “Yeah. You?”

                “Army until three years ago. Thought I could handle this but it’s just so…” he didn’t know how to finish his thought so his words just trailed off.

                “I know what you mean.” A large tan hand appeared in his line of vision and he lifted his flesh one to accept the assistance. He turned around and opened his mouth to thank the man but halted immediately.

                The second his eyes met the familiar bright blue ones before him, his entire world shifted. His body felt like it was being cocooned in the softest of cashmere blanket and his blood was lit with such a pleasant fire. He heart fluttered and he could literally feel as his soul began to stich itself together, as it began to be Complete.  


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so thrilled by the amount of people who like and want more of this story! It's the best feeling ever! You all are awesome, hope you enjoy this chapter! :D.

From the time he was old enough to really understand what they meant, Steve Rogers disliked Completeds. The feeling started when he finally could no longer take the pitying looks his mother was given.

                “Why do they look at you like that?” he asked after a day out to buy their meager groceries.

                “They just feel bad for me sweetheart.”

                “Why? Because we don’t get a lot of money? Neither do they! They shouldn’t judge.”

                “Oh no Steve that’s not why.” She gently guided him to sit on the couch. “They feel bad for me because I lost your father.”

                “But Da died a hero right?” he frowned. “Is it because he was your other half?”

                “My Completed yes. A Completed is your soulmate, the person you’re destined to be with.” She explained. “And all of our neighbors feel bad for me because I don’t have mine anymore.”

                “That’s not fair! Can’t you just find someone else to love?”

                “No baby, it doesn’t work like that.” She gave him a sad smile and grabbed his hands to hold between her own. “Your Da was it for me. There’s no one else out there I would want to be with.”

                His frown deepened at her sad look and he launched himself into her arms, patting her back comfortingly, like she did for him when he was sick. “I’m sorry you’re lonely Ma.”

                “Oh baby I’m not lonely.” She held him back tightly and kissed his hair. “I couldn’t possibly be lonely when I have an awesome boy like you.”

                It was from that moment that he began to resent everything that had to do with Completeds. If such an amazing woman like his Ma was left heart broken and alone, how could it possibly be a good thing? Any mention of soul bonds made him angry and it didn’t take too long for his mother to catch on.

                After she heard him scoff angrily when the newly bonded young couple from downstairs left their apartment she turned to him and leveled him with a stern gaze.

                “Steven Grant Rogers. What on earth was that for?”

                He didn’t want to reply, but he knew it was rude, and he knew not to be rude. So he shrugged and mumbled, “I didn’t like that they were showing off their bond around you. It wasn’t fair.”

                “And what do you mean by that?”

                He didn’t like the angry tone to her voice, but couldn’t help from exclaiming loudly, “I don’t like the idea of Completeds! It just doesn’t seem right for these people to have a awesome bond when you lost it. What’s the point of only having one person for you if you are sad for the rest of your life if they die?”

                “Steve I’m not as sad as you think I am.”

                “I hear you cry!” he stated strongly. “At night. I hear you cry. And it’s not fair! You don’t deserve to feel so sad.”

                She sighed and pulled his small frame against her, gently running her hand through his hair. “I told you before baby that having you makes me happy. I’m not lonely with you around. I meant that. Sure sometimes I get sad when I think of your father, but the years we had together, the years I felt complete, they more than make up for it.”

                He gave her a contemplative look and then hesitatingly asked, “So it’s worth it?”

                “Of course it is sweetheart. Having your other half with you for any amount of time is the best experience. Don’t let what happened to your father and I deter you from your Completed. Impressions are a good thing, you should embrace them.”

                His eyes went downcast when she mentioned Impressions and he shuffled his feet awkwardly.

                “What is wrong Steve sweetie?”

                “I haven’t had any Impressions.” He muttered, embarrassment flushing his pale cheeks.

                “That’s nothing to be ashamed of Steve.” She said, lifting his chin to look at her. “You’re young still, you’ll get them and when you do they will be the best thing you could ever imagine.”

                Her words caused him to slowly reconsider his doubt on Completeds. If they were as fantastic as she said maybe he could give the Impressions a chance when they came? If they would make him that happy they had to be good.

                So he waited patiently for glimpses of his Completed, but nothing came. He would wake up every morning eagerly waiting for the unique feeling to come. When he was sick the anticipation was the only thing keeping the misery away.

                As time passed his eagerness slowly began to dissipate. By the time he was ten years old and still nothing had come he was beginning to become discouraged.

                One day the boys in his class were talking about what their Impressions felt like, and one boy who had made it his life’s mission to terrorize Steve because of all his ailments turned to him with a sneer.

                “What about you Rogers? What lady is going to end up getting stuck with you?”

                Steve glared at him and squared his slim shoulders. “I don’t think she’d be stuck.”

                “She’s probably even more of a loser then you are then! Who wants to be bonded with a sick little twig? You couldn’t take care of a dame if you tried!”

                “Don’t you talk about my Completed like that!” he snapped, anger filling him at the jab to his other half. “You don’t know a thing about them!”

                “Why don’t you fill us in then huh? What sort of Impressions are you gettin’? Bet she’s more boy then girl, since you won’t be able to be one!”

                “I haven’t gotten an Impression yet, but she’ll be thousand times better than anything you think ‘cause she won’t need some puffed up fat head gorilla to do everything for her!”

                The four of them started to laugh and he crossed his arms angrily over his chest and glared at them.

                “It all makes sense now!” he flashed Steve a cruel smile. “You ain’t gettin’ any Impression’s because you don’t got a Completed!  No one will be stuck with you after all!”

                They left then, laughter still floating back to him as he stood frozen in place.

                Were they right? Or was he just being a giant bully like usual? Did Steve really not have a soulmate?

                The thought hurt, but he supposed it made sense? He would be eleven in July and still nothing. His head and heart were empty, nothing there to link him to anyone. But he didn’t feel like he was all alone, like something was taken from him. Maybe the universe just decided that poor sickly Steve Rogers wouldn’t live long enough to meet his Completed so why bother giving him one?  
                He spent the whole walk home with his head hung low. How could he have thought that he was destined to have someone? That poor person would just be left like his Ma, only temporarily Complete. He could never do that to someone. It was better this way.

                That didn’t stop him from crying once he was completely alone in his room though. He sat on his mattress and let silent tears fall down his cheeks. He cursed his frail body and his frail soul. How could he have let himself romanticize something that he knew wasn’t as pretty as it was made out to be? In his experience all Completeds did was bring heartbreak.

                His Ma though, what would he tell her? She said that finally feeling whole was a beautiful thing. How could he tell her that he was only half of a person? That the only feeling he had was that something wasn’t where it should have been?

                Sarah Rogers was smarter than stupid Peter Daniels though. Maybe he was wrong then? Maybe Steve was just jumping to conclusions because that’s what he had already been dreading?

                After a few days when he could no longer take the thoughts he went to her and quietly asked, “Ma, before you and Da met, did you feel sorta empty? Like there was something missing that should have been there?”

                She gave him a confused look and shook her head. “No not really. I mostly felt anticipation every time I got an Impression. I met him very young though, not much older then you really. Since it happened so quickly I might not have had the chance to feel that. No one really understands exactly how Completeds work. Is that what you’re feeling with the Impressions?”

                He shook his head and sat beside her, staring down at his clasped hands. “I’m still not getting  any Impressions Ma. I’m all blank. The only thing I feel is this emptiness, like I should be able to turn to someone and say, hey remember when?”

                He glanced up to meet her identical blue eyes. She smiled at him and slipped her hand into his to give it a motherly squeeze. “Maybe that is an Impression?”

                “It doesn’t feel like it. It feels like a giant gaping hole. Peter says I don’t get Impressions because I don’t have a Completed.”

                She gasped and her expression turned angry. “Now who would say such an awful thing! Steve you know that’s not true don’t you?”

                He just shrugged. “It makes sense. I’m not soulmate material. All I’d do is go an die on her and leave her alone and heartbroken. I’ve been thinking its better this way.”

                “Don’t you be thinking that Steven! You aren’t going to die on anyone.”

                “You almost had to call a priest last month Ma!” He cried. “I’m always sick an someday I won’t be able to fight it. If I really don’t have a Completed, then it is a good thing. I couldn’t hurt them by dying before they got to be whole.”

                “Oh Steve.” She reached over to pull him into her arms. “You are too selfless for your own good. Don’t you listen to a thing those bullies say. You are the strongest person I know and will live a long full life with an amazing Completed by your side.”

                “I love you Ma.” He replied quietly, so grateful that he had such an amazing mother. “I don’t think I could handle the emptiness without you.”

                “I love you too Steve and you’ll always have me.”

                Despite her reassurance, it was hard to go through life with nothing but a blank space around him. So many times he felt he should have someone to talk to. That there should be a person with him to pull his stupid self out of every fight he got into. That there should be someone to do silly things like make blanket forts and go to Cooney Island with.

                He hated the emptiness more than he could ever express and his resentment towards Completeds grew more than it ever was. He couldn’t hear the fondness which people talked about the Impressions without a bitter feeling filling his stomach. Despite the dislike he couldn’t begrudge them their happiness. He was just jealous.

                It got worse when he left school, when he was out in the real world, because they were getting married now. Because Completed couples that met in high school were now having children and showing their wholeness to everyone.

                The emptiness became unbearable when his Ma got sick. At first she didn’t want him near in case he got it too, but after she started going downhill he ignored her. There was no chance he would leave the only person in his life alone.

                Every day they would lie in her bed and talk. Just talk. She would tell stories of her childhood to him faint laughter in her week voice. He would listen raptly and then describe in detail the things he had been drawing, the people he met in art school. He did everything he could to keep that smile on her face.

                One night after he told her about a sunset he saw over the Brooklyn Bridge she reached out and slid her hand into his, squeezing it to draw his attention.

                “Steve sweetie, I want you to promise me that you won’t wallow when I’m gone.”

                “Ma!” he tried to interrupt her but she shook her head.

                “No baby. We both know I won’t shake this, but that’s okay. I’ve had a good life and have raised an amazing son.” She gave a little smile. “I am so proud of you Steve. You’re such a good man and someday you will make a woman as happy to be your wife as I was to be your mother. Please promise me you won’t give up on finding that person, okay?”

                He nodded, unable to keep the tears from falling as he lifted their clasped hands so he could rest his cheek against hers. “I promise Ma.”

                “Good boy. Your father and I will be watching you to make sure you keep that promise.”

                He gave a watery laugh and kissed her hand. “I love you Ma.”

                “I love you too baby.”

                She was gone the next morning and Steve swore he felt his heart shatter. He was truly alone now and had no idea how to continue with life. He felt the emptiness more acutely now and he knew without a doubt that someone should be there to hold him. To comfort him and tell him that he didn’t need to take care of himself on his own.

                All he wanted to do was hide. Hide and give up. He couldn’t do that though, he had promised his Ma he wouldn’t wallow, that he would continue with his life and he tried his hardest to keep it.

                He quit art school and found a low paying job doing little advertising illustrations. It was fun enough and allowed him to use his art skills as well as was something that he could do even while sick, so he didn’t have the fear of losing his job hanging over his head.

                He really did try and keep his other promise and try and find someone, but without Impressions it was impossible. No woman would date someone who wasn’t their Completed, especially not Steve. He hated the shallowness and the feeling of letting his Ma down.

                But then war broke out and any thought he had of finding someone to love evaporated as he was filled with the burning need to defend his country. He tried over and over again to enlist and just kept receiving the glaringly bright 4F. As if he needed more proof of his inadequate body.

                On what he swore to himself would be his last he was finally given a chance. Abraham Erskine was the first to notice past his frail body and to who he really was and Steve couldn’t have been more grateful to have met him.

                “And what does your Completed think of your many attempts to join?” He asked as he stood before Steve questioning his motive for enlisting.

                “I don’t have a Completed Sir.” He replied. “But I would like to think they would support me, even if they didn’t understand why.”

                “Oh no, I doubt you do not have one. You just merely have not been given the chance to see them. How would you like a different chance now? A chance to fight those bullies?”

                With that Steve became a member of Project Rebirth and was finally given an opportunity to prove himself. He never would have guessed it would have given a completely different opportunity as well.

                Her name was Agent Margaret Carter and he had never met a woman like her before. She was everything he had imagined his nonexistent Completed  would have been like and was in complete awe of her. It wasn’t hard to see either, even she noticed and pointed it out as they drove through New York.

                “I take it then that you have not met your other half?”

                “I don’t have an other half ma’am.” He replied. “I’ve never received a single Impression in my whole life. All I have is an emptiness.”

                She was quiet for a moment before replying. “My Impression’s stopped a year ago. I’ve been left with a missing piece in my heart, like an amputation. So I understand how you feel Steve.”

                From that moment he finally gained a companion, someone who he felt would support him. And she did. After the serum and Erskine’s death she came up to him and set a delicate hand on his now huge bicep.

                “I am sorry Steve. I know you are meant for more than what they are forcing on you. You are a good man and were chosen for a reason. Remember that.”

                Remembering that was the only thing that kept him going through his year of being a dancing monkey. He supposed that he was helping with the war effort. He brought money into the military and rose moral through the home front, but it wasn’t the same. He was defending no one, he was helping no one and his own moral was slowly diminishing.

                “You aren’t a show girl Steve.” One of the dancers told him as they were heading for their first overseas performance. “You deserve to be coming over here as a real Captain. I saw what you did in New York against that Nazi. You’re being wasted here, and I hope they realize that.”

                “Thank you Nicole, but if this is where my country needs me then this is where I will be.”

                She kissed his cheek and gave a little smile. “That’s exactly why you shouldn’t be.”

                He felt better for a moment, but the real soldiers reactions to him brought him crashing to the ground. They were right to boo him. He was nothing but a dancing show girl who knew nothing of war.

                He wasn’t able to sulk for long; Peggy was there and she was very good at pulling him from a funk.

                “You haven’t been given a choice. Are dancing monkey and science experiment really all you are destined for? I think not, but these men are what is left of the 107th, the rest are either captured or killed. They didn’t have the best moral as is, but it isn’t right that they have taken it out on you.”

                “What’s left? Are they just going to just leave the other men to die?” He asked in surprise, the rest of her words going right through him.

                “I believe so yes. There isn’t much they can do. Steve wait, what are you doing!”

                He had stood and was quickly moving out into the rain. He halted and turned back to look at her as she stared at him in confusion. “You said that you knew I was meant for more! Do you still believe that?”

                “Of course!” She called back over the rain.

                “Then help me!”

                She did and he saved over four hundred men. He brought them and hundreds of weapons back to the camp, knowing that his actions were probably about to cause him to be court martialed. He didn’t care though; he had finally done something to truly help the men fighting this war.

                Though to his utter surprise, he wasn’t court martialed. Instead, Colonel Phillips passed his actions off as his idea, a fully sanctioned military operation and Steve came out the other side of it with a shiny new Medal of Honor and a team of his own.

                He really liked his men. They were the best soldiers he could have ever asked to work with and the first time in his life he truly had friends.

                “So is Agent Carter your Completed?” Dum Dum asked one night as they sat around the fire.

                “Yes, you seem very connected.” Dernier replied.

                Steve shook his head with a little shrug. “No, were not bonded.”

                “Really?” Monty’s tone was very surprised. “You are just friends then? Is your Completed back in the Colonies?”

                He shook his head again. “No I don’t have a Completed.”

                Stunned silence followed his statement until Gabe shrugged. “That’s alright, right? You and Peggy seem really close. You’d be happy with her right? If you guys got married.”

                He gave a small grin. “Yeah, I think I would.”

                He really would. Despite the still ever present emptiness surrounding him, he knew that after this war was over, if she would be just as happy, he would be very happy to have Margaret Carter as his wife.

                He never got to find out though. That was his last thought as he lost consciousness in the freezing cold. He would never get to know if he would have been able to have love with a broken soul. He never would know if he had Peggy could have been happy.

                Opening his eyes was never something he thought he would do again, but he did. Confusion filled him as he slowly blinked them open and sat up.

                He didn’t have long to be confused because panic quickly took it over. He barely gave the woman that entered time to talk before he was breaking out of the room and the building. He bolted through the terrifyingly bright city until he just couldn’t handle moving anymore and stopped to stare in confusion at everything.

                When the man with the eye patch told him it was 2012 he was shocked for only a moment, and then felt nothing but overwhelming sadness. Sadness and then nothing. He was completely numb as he followed Nick Fury back to their headquarters. Numb as the man explained what had happened to him and that they were going to keep him there for a few days to make sure he was medically alright and that he could handle getting out in the world.

                That night he sat on the entirely too comfortable mattress staring at his hands. Everyone he knew was dead and dying and he didn’t know how to comprehend that. Was there any possible way to be anymore alone?

                The thought caused him to startle as he realized that the emptiness around him was no longer there. What did that mean? No matter how much it hung over him, how much he wanted to he just couldn’t bring himself to think about it that night, there was already too much on him. Instead he laid back and curled in on himself in an attempt to sleep, to get relief from that day.

                He didn’t think about it in the morning though, or the days that passed in a flurry of emotions and noise. The entire century was just so loud and it took him three weeks before they decided he was able to leave S.H.I.E.L.D’s building again. It wasn’t until that day that he understood why the emptiness was gone.

                He was walking through what New York had become, eyes wide as he took in the bright lights and blaring noises around him. At one point he glanced to his left and was drawn to a flyer on a building without understanding why.

                He walked closer so he could read what it said. It was an advertisement for an engineering convention from a tech school and the second he saw it he was hit with his first ever Impression.

                It was like nothing he could have ever imagined. Everyone he knew had explained theirs as fluffy, warm, cuddly, comforting. This was sharp and cool. Refreshing. Crisp. Like a drink of real spring water after dehydration, except across his whole being. Inside him. Surrounding his soul and embracing it.

                He couldn’t handle the feeling and gasped, staggering on his feet. The agent that had been trailing him was suddenly there, resting his hand on Steve’s arm.

                “Captain Rogers are you okay?”

                He somehow managed to nod. “Yeah, yeah fine. I just had, that was.”

                “What is it?”

                “That was my first ever Impression.”

                His emptiness was gone because he was no longer alone. He was no longer half of a person. He had a Completed. A Completed who was an engineering student that had an invention on display in two months. It didn’t even take a conscious thought for him to decide to attend, to find his other at all costs.

                In the meantime he was determined to find as many Impressions as he could. When they got back to Headquarters he wasted no time in telling Fury that he would be going out every day.

                “I’m glad to hear you have a Completed in this time.” Fury replied. “After your supposed death it didn’t take long for people to start coming up and saying they were your other half. No one was believed of course, but the claims weren’t stopped until Agent Carter announced that you had never received an Impression and that it was rude and violated your memory to use your soul to gain attention.”

                “Sounds like Peggy.” He stated with a smile. “Do you know if she ever found anyone?”

                “Yeah she married, had a couple kids. Support groups for people who lost their Completed have been set up since the war, so it’s not hard for people to find others.”

                “That’s good to hear. So you won’t mind if I leave then?”

                “You’re your own man now Rogers. I think this country owes you more than just a little bit of downtime. We’ve got an apartment set up for you. Go find your Completed soldier. I’ll contact you only if it’s an emergency.”

                From that day on every morning he woke hoping to receive a glimpse of his other half, just like he had when he was a child. Only this time he got them.  For the next two weeks, in between all the reactions to everything 21st century, he got almost bombarded by Impressions.

                A frilly caramel coffee in a woman’s hand, a high school he passed on one of his runs, a clear blue sky, a spotted brown cat in a window, all of these things and many others flooded him with the refreshing cool water. They all brought a smile to his face and the happiness slowly began to eat away the negative energy that had been swirling around him since waking up.

                Until one night he was plagued with nightmares and despite how hard he tried, his Impressions just couldn’t push away the grief. So he found himself beating bags to sand until he was interrupted by Fury and the Tesseract.

                After only six weeks of consciousness he was back in active duty, however strange it was. The plane Agent Coulson picked him up in was like nothing he had ever seen, and that was nothing compared to the Heillicarrier. Doctor Banner’s surprised face had summed it up perfectly.

                By far the most bewildering member of this century and team was Tony Stark. Everything about the man was futuristic and intimidating. He had to tune out the continued rant of what he assumed were more thinly veiled insults and terms he didn’t know until he heard the man mention his line of prosthetics.

                An instant cooling rush passed over him and he almost sighed in delight at the feeling until he registered why he had it. His Completed had one of Starks prosthetics, meaning they had lost a limb. An instant swell of anger and hurt on their behalf rushed over him and he wanted to go back to stop them from ever having to suffer through that pain.

                He was pulled from his mind as they returned to the Heillicarrier and he had to push his Completed to the back of his mind to concentrate on his mission. He couldn’t be distracted when the enemy was an unknown alien race.

                He was successful until New York when a huge spike of cold fear that was not his own flooded him and he gasped more from it then the blast to the stomach he had just taken. Of course his Completed lived in New York. How could he possibly have forgotten that?

                Thor helped him to his feet and he fought with renewed vigor. He had just gained them, he couldn’t lose them now! After years of just being empty he didn’t think he could survive this century with the feeling his Ma and Peggy had described. They needed to win, needed to close that portal at all costs if only to keep his other half alive.

                As he watched Tony fly into the portal worry and guilt flooded him. This was exactly what he had wanted, but he hadn’t thought what all costs could be. The tightness in his gut didn’t diminish until the billionaires eyes snapped open. Once they had and the man was spouting off words about something called shawarma he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. They had won. It was over.

                Of course it wasn’t really. The damage to his city was extensive and despite how much he wanted to he couldn’t just run off in his search for Impressions. He had a duty to help.

                He was helping dig through a large office building that had trapped and killed dozens of people by lifting materials that would generally need machinery when he noticed a young brunette man run to the side and be sick. He frowned sadly and set aside the section of wall in his hands, grabbed a bottle of water and made his way to the man’s side.

                He offered the bottle to him and said, “Here. Wish I could say it gets better, but it never really does.”

                “You military?” The man asked and Steve couldn’t hold back the smile the Brooklyn accent invoked.

                “Yeah. You?”

                “Army until three years ago. Thought I could handle this but it’s just so.” He trailed off uncertainly.

                “I know what you mean.” Steve agreed, understanding the difference between a war zone and seeing your home in ruins. He held out a hand which was immediately accepted and helped the man to his feet. He was prepared to say something more as he turned around but instead gasped upon meeting his silver blue gaze.

                A clarity like he had never felt surrounded him. It was better than opening his eyes and seeing a full spectrum of color for the first time, better than taking a breath and getting all the air he needed. He felt alive and awake, like his veins were rivers and blood water. For the first time he felt Complete.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so very delighted by the response to this story! Safe to say it will for sure be continued! Thank you so much everyone! :D

 

                It took Bucky what felt like centuries to fully understand what had happened and the moment he had all he wanted to do was toss himself into the Captain’s arms, but he was pretty certain that was over the top so instead managed to stutter a response.

                “You, you’re Steve!”

                The gorgeous blonde angel blushed a faint red and smiled. “Yeah that’s me. I uh, I don’t know your name.”

                “Ah fuck that was rude! I’m uh, James, Bucky, James Barnes.” He said embarrassed at the choppiness of his words.

                Steve chuckled and another warm flush of fuzziness surrounded him. “James?”

                “Yeah that’s, well that’s my name but I go by Bucky. Bucky Barnes.”

                He received another smile. “Steve Rogers, though you already knew that.”

                “Yeah I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to make that awkward. I’ve just, I’ve known who you are, not like the Captain America thing but being my Completed thing, since I was around ten.”

                “You didn’t make anything awkward.” He replied in a reassuring tone and then reached out like he wanted to touch him, but dropped his hand moments later. “Do you want to go somewhere else? Somewhere quiet?”

                “Absolutely.” He didn’t even hesitate at leading him away, the urge to get his Completed away from the destruction around them so strong he felt like he was pulsing with it. It was nowhere as strong as the urge to grab ahold of Steve’s hand as they walked, but he was unsure what the other man would think of that. He didn’t need to look behind him to know he was following though; he could feel his warm energy beside him.

                They ended up at a little diner, easily getting a table they sat down across from each other and just stared for a moment before Bucky spoke up.

                “I’m so glad you’re here. I never thought I would be able to meet you.”

                “Me too.” Steve gave him a huge smile. “Up until three weeks ago I didn’t even know I had a Completed.”

                “Seriously?” Bucky asked in shock, not being able to imagine how that must of felt.

                “Yeah, it was like I just had this giant blank space that was supposed to be filled. But the first day I was allowed out in the city I got my first Impression.” The smile turned dazed and he tilted his head to peer at him. “It was the best feeling I had ever felt.”

                He tried not to blush at the Captains words and instead gave him his own wide smile. “What was it? That gave you the Impression?”

                “A flyer for an engineering convention. You’re showing something right?”

                Bucky nodded eagerly. “Yeah I am! I’m really proud of it too. It’s not like something commercial really, but I think it will sell.”

                He lifted his left arm and turned it over to show the wrist, where a thin tan plate sat against it. “It’s for amputees. One of the things I hated most when I got this is that it’s essentially just a chunk of metal. It didn’t feel human. So I made this thing. It’s a little plate that attaches to the wires of the arm and then has a sensor at the arteries at the top, so I can feel my pulse in here.”

                Steve gave him an awed look and lifted his hand to touch, but stopped and shot him a questioning look to which he nodded instantly.

                “You can touch it.”

                He did, and his eyes widened even more. “This is brilliant Bucky! You made it? Wow!”

                He laughed and nodded, unable to resist the faint coloring to his cheeks at Steve’s adamant praise. “Yeah I’m pretty proud of it. Generally it has wires that would wrap around a regular prosthetic, but with the Stark arm I was able to insert the wires inside.”

                “This is the most brilliant thing I have ever seen!”

                Bucky grinned and gave him a sly look. “You’re just saying that.”

                “Not at all! The amount of people you’ll be able to help is incredible!” He pulled his hand away, almost reluctantly, and smiled again. “What was your first Impression?”

                “Your eyes.” He answered instantly. “I was trying to imagine what they would look like and when I thought of your color and shape they were just there.”

                “Wow.” Steve replied slightly awed. “That’s pretty incredible.”

                “Yeah.” Bucky grinned and then added, “The second one was one of your war bond posters.”

                Steve groaned and ducked his head. “I much prefer the eyes one! Those were so embarrassing!”

                “I thought the tights were pretty hot.”

                The captain groaned again. “Oh those were awful! The uniform I have now isn’t much better though. At least their pants and not tiny shorts!”

                Bucky laughed and nodded enthusiastically. “Much more practical.”

                “I’m so glad you’re you.” Steve said suddenly giving him a serious look. “I couldn’t have asked for a better Completed. You’re intelligent, caring, brave, not to mention gorgeous and you aren’t obsessed with the Captain America thing. I’m excited to get to know you Buck.”

                Bucky grinned at his words. “And the fact that I am a man doesn’t bother you?”

                “No not at all!” He reassured quickly. “I like you for you. I wouldn’t care if you were a troll.”

                He laughed again and reached his hand over to slip into Steve’s, a small sigh escaping him at the rush of warmth it gave. “I’m glad you’d accept my trollness.”

                “Oh? Is this latent trollness that will come out later?”

                “You have no idea what my snoring will sound like.”

                Steve laughed delightedly and squeezed his hand.  “I think I’ll be able to handle it. Some of the men I was in the army with were the worst!”

                He nodded. “Oh yeah me too! Being in such close quarters with some obnoxious snoring can really desensitize you.”

                “How long were you in?”

                “Since I was eighteen. Would still probably be in, if it wasn’t for this thing.” He said lifting the prosthetic.

                “Would you mind me asking what happened?”

                “IED, improvised explosive device, hit us. I woke up without an arm.” He replied simply, hoping that Steve understood and wouldn’t press for more.

                He did, and merely squeezed Bucky’s hand again. “I’m sorry Buck. You seem to be doing really well though!”

                “Yeah it just took a couple years is all.”

                “I wish I could adjust that well.”

                “It’s only been what, a month and a half.” Steve nodded and he continued. “That’s no time at all! Specially for what you’ve been through.  Give it time.”

                “I’ll have you too, that will make it easier right?”

                Bucky grinned and nodded. “You’ll have me too and I will help as much as possible.”

                Steve just smiled back and his beautiful blue eyes stared into Bucky’s delightedly. He never wanted to move from that moment; was completely determined to keep the captain there indefinitely so he could stare at him for the rest of his life. The fantasy was disturbed by a barrage of text tones coming from Steve’s pocket, causing him to jolt quickly in surprise.

                “Hey its okay!” Bucky reminded him gently. “It’s just your phone.”

                “My phone? Oh yeah!” His look of bewilderment was quickly replaced by understanding and he dug into his khaki pocket to pull out a sleek Stark Phone. “Tony gave it to me yesterday but I have no idea how to use it.”

                “May I?” Bucky asked, reaching toward the device. Steve gave him an eager nod and handed it over. He tilted the screen to show the blonde what he was doing and then began to walk him through it.

                “See just tap the screen, if you don’t have a passcode it will open right up.” He explained as it did so, revealing the generic home screen.

                “Should I have a passcode?”

                “I think you’ll be okay for now, until you understand it more.”

                “Makes sense.”

                Bucky smiled at him and then pointed to the little envelope icon. “This is your messages center, and these little red numbers mean you have texts. Damn ten of them?” He clicked on it and then passed it back to Steve. “They’re from Stark.”

                Steve’s brow furrowed as he read them and then he sighed and brought sad eyes back up to Bucky. “I forgot I was supposed to meet them at Central Park.”

                “Avengers stuff huh?” He said in understanding.

                “Yeah.” Steve frowned and his expression turned longing. “I really don’t want to leave you.”

                He gave him a smile and took the phone back, quickly adding himself into his contacts and sent his phone a message. “I added myself in your phone. When you’re done superheroing, you can either text or call me, okay?”

                He nodded and slid the device back into his pocket before standing and walking to his side and offering him his hand. “I’m going to hug you now, if you don’t mind?”

                Bucky didn’t at all and quickly stepped into the taller man’s embrace, wrapping both of his arms around his trim waist and briefly resting his head on the broad shoulder.

                “I’m so glad to have you in my life Bucky.”

                “Yeah me too Steve.” He agreed easily and pulled away to flash him a smile. “Talk to you soon?”

                “As soon as possible.” He hesitantly released Bucky’s hand and then slowly left the diner, Bucky watching him until he was no longer visible and then he sank back into the booth bonelessly.

                He had finally met his Completed. The warm fuzzies were permanently filling his veins and he couldn’t keep the dopey smile off his face. He had to tell someone, and with that thought immediately pulled his phone out and called his sister.

                “Hey Bucky! I thought you were in Manhattan helping with cleanup?”

                “I was! But Becca, guess what! I met him! I met Steve!”

                “Wait really?”

                “Yes really! And Becca, he’s amazing! Everything I thought he would be and I’m floating! Almost literally. It’s incredible.”

                She laughed delightedly. “Oh Bucky I am so happy for you! We have to celebrate! The whole family!”

                “Okay.” He nodded his head and stared out the window wishing he could still see Steve. “Tomorrow? He’s going to call me when he gets done with Avenger stuff he has to do, so I might see him again tonight and want to be open.”

                “I’ll talk to mom then.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “This is so great, I can’t wait to meet him!”

                “That might be a while Beck, he’s going through a lot.”

                “Understandable. I’ll call you later about diner?”

                “Sounds good. I’m going to head home now, clean up. God I can’t believe he saw me all disgusting like this!”

                She laughed again. “Wow Bucky, priorities.”

                “It’s no big deal. He did say I was gorgeous.”

                “Course he did be blind not to think so.”

                “Thanks.” He grinned dopily again and then sighed. “I’m going to let you go, I hate talking on the subway.”

                “No problem, talk later tonight?”

                “Sure.”

                He hung up and only felt mildly guilty for hoping that they wouldn’t be able to talk that night, he wanted to keep his phone free for a certain beautiful supersoldier.


	4. Chapter 4

Before meeting Bucky, Steve was pretty sure he had never actually felt happiness. Nothing he had ever experienced came anywhere near the refreshing coolness of talking to his Completed, of seeing his grey blue eyes light up as he talked. He was certain he had never smiled so much in his life, and was still smiling as he reached their meeting point in Central Park.

                “Finally Capsicle!” Tony called as he walked over from his bike. “Freaking took you long enough! Wait, what’s up with your face? Why’s your mouth doing that?”

                “It’s a smile numbskull.” Clint answered, but his expression was just as intrigued as the engineer’s was.

                “I know that Legolas! What I wanna know is why Cap’s doing so. Thought he could only be stoically serious.”

                “I just met my Completed.” He answered in almost a dazed tone. “That’s why I was late.”

                Silence met them for a moment and then Tony exclaimed, “Holy shit really!”

                “Congrats Steve.” Bruce said giving him a happy smile.

                “Wait you didn’t have one in the forties?” Clint asked.

                “No, I thought I didn’t have one for my whole life. It shocked me when I got my first Impression.”

                “We’re happy for you.” Natasha told him kindly. “When do we get to meet her?”

                “Him.” He corrected and then shrugged. “I don’t know? I want to know him more first. Tony might meet him soon though; he’s in engineering school and has an amazing thing at the convention next week!”

                “Wait your soulmate’s a guy!” The billionaire stated in shock. “Are you even gay?”

                Steve shrugged. “I don’t care what he is. I just think he’s brilliant.”

                “Is he even in there?” Clint muttered. “If I were to wave my hand in front of his eyes do you think he would notice?”

                “Don’t judge him Clint, you know how it feels.”

                “Yeah.”

                Steve registered his sad tone and instantly tried to shake off his ethereal feeling to give the archer an apologetic look. “I’m sorry Clint, I didn’t mean to remind you of your lose.”

                “Hey no its okay Cap. Phil would tazer my ass if I brought you down because of him. I’m happy for you.”

                “We all are.” Bruce added.

                “Lets celebrate after we send Reindeer Games home!”

                “Thanks Tony, but I uh, well I wanted to call him when we were done.”

                He received a laugh and the man reached over to shake his hand and bent slightly to pat his back. “No big deal at all. We’ll do dinner sometime this week?”

                “No more shawarma.” Steve and Clint verified together and got an eye roll in return.

                “Fine, fine! Indian it is!”

                Thor arrived with Loki then and the air turned serious. Despite the situation, Steve couldn’t ignore the rushing in his veins and stood silently until the two Asgardians were gone. Once they were he quickly said goodbye to his teammates so he could hurry home.

                His phone chimed on the drive there and he was tempted to just pull over and check it on the off chance that it was Bucky, but instead just drove faster to his apartment and instantly pulled the device out the moment he was inside.

From Bucky:

Hey Steve! Hows superheroing?

                Steve grinned when he noticed that it was in fact Bucky. They hadn’t even been apart for two hours and already he felt like it had been days.

                Staring at the message he thought of what he was supposed to say in return and then just slowly typed out what he was thinking.

To Bucky:

Hi Bucky! It was okay, we didn’t really do anything hard. Can you talk? I’m unsure I like this texting thing and would really like to hear your voice.

                He hit send and then began to mentally panic. Was that a thing you did? Asking for a phone call instead? And was it too creepy to say he wanted to hear the other man’s voice? What if he started to think that he didn’t want some old timer who had no idea how to live in this time as his Completed? People did that now, he heard. Choose to not be with their soulmate.

                His internal freak out was halted by the phone ringing loudly and he jumped, almost dropping the device. When he saw that it was Bucky his grin returned and he instantly hit the accept button.

                “Hi.” He breathed out quickly once it was up to his ear.

                “Hey!” Bucky sounded just as delighted to talk to him as Steve himself was and the momentary worry over the other man finding him dull evaporated. “Would it be creepy to admit I’ve been staring at my phone for the last couple hours begging it to ring?”

                Steve laughed and shook his head before realizing Bucky wasn’t actually in the room. “Not at all! I was just worried it was creepy to tell you how much I wanted to hear your voice.”

                “Not creepy don’t worry! I was glad actually. I really wanted to talk to you too, and honestly hate texting. I need to get a pressure censor screen; the heat ones don’t register my left hand.”

                “Uh.” Steve didn’t know what to respond to that and was saved from having to by Bucky laughing faintly.

                “Shit sorry! It just means that my phone works from body heat instead of pressure, so I have to text one handed and that’s a bitch.”

                “Oh that makes sense? Are the others more expensive?”

                “Not really, I just haven’t remembered to buy a new one.” He replied. “Oh, I told my sister I met you! She’s super happy and is now planning a party or something for me. She wanted you to come to meet my family, but I kinda selfishly told her I’m going to keep you to myself for now.”

                Steve laughed and lounged back into his couch. “I told my team the same thing. They were really shocked but happy too. Tony said something about celebratory Indian food? I’m not sure what exactly that is but it’s got to be better than boiled potatoes so I’m down for it!”

                “If you like spicy you’ll love it!” Bucky replied. “That sounds like a lot of fun. Since we’re on the topic, when would you want to meet the family?”

                “I’d really like to be able to take you out on a real date first at least.” He replied with a fond smile at the question, a particularly strong rush of comforting coolness surrounding him. “I want to get to know you, but would also love to meet your family!”

                “I want to get to know you too Steve.” His voice was fond and happy and Steve could feel the happiness surround him. “Silly things, like, what’s the first thing you do in the morning?”

                “I go for a run.” He answered instantly. “It’s really calming and a nice way to wake up.”

                Bucky laughed and replied, “I glare at my alarm clock and beg it to start moving in reverse!”

causing Steve to laugh with him.

                “Not a morning person then?”

                “Not at all! I would sleep in until noon if I could.”

                “Some days I wish I could do that. With the serum though I only need about four hours of sleep a day.”

                “Wow so you’ve got about twenty hours a day to do stuff? What do you do?”

                “Draw mostly. Recently I’ve been wandering around looking for Impressions though.”

                “Yeah I thought you were an artist! You used to draw the Brooklyn Bridge a lot, right?”

                “I did. It was one of my favorites, that and people.”

                “Really? Would you want to draw me like one of your French girls sometime Steve?”

                He caught the sly tone to his voice, but was really confused. “Is that a reference?” He asked hoping it was.

                “Oh yeah! Wow sorry about that, again. It’s from a movie, The Titanic. I think you would like it.”

                “About the ship right? It’s sad, isn’t it?”

                “Yeah, since it’s about a tragedy it definitely is, but it’s also like, one of the greatest love stories.” Bucky’s voice turned hopeful and he added, “I have it, if you would want to come over and watch it?”

                Steve perked up at the idea of seeing his Completed again and responded instantly. “I would love to! I have a lot of pop culture references to catch up on, and well, mostly I would just really like to see you.”

                “Me too!”

                Steve’s smile grew at the other man’s eagerness. “This would be a date right? Movies are still a good date thing right?”

                “Movies are absolutely a good date thing.” Bucky replied without any hint of patronizing him. “I personally think introducing you to an amazing love story would be a perfect start to your modernizing! Not to mention an excellent first date.”

                “It doesn’t end well though, right?” Steve asked. “Isn’t that some sort of bad omen?”

                “It’s sad and then happy? You’ll see! And anyway, our story is just starting; there isn’t any kind of bad ending anywhere in our future.”

                Steve couldn’t resist the happy sigh at his words and he nodded his head. “Very true. Where do you live? I can come over whenever you’d like.”

                Bucky rattled off his address and then added. “Come over now? I pathetically already miss you.”

                Steve stared at the words he had just written down and then cursed quietly. “You literally live blocks away from me. We could have met each other so much sooner if I just went south instead of north.”

                “You’re joking me!”

                 “No! Not at all. If I ran I could be there in five minutes.”

                “That’s brilliant!” Bucky said with a loud laugh. “Of course it’s how life works, blocks away from each other for a month and a half and it takes an alien invasion for us to find each other.”

                “At least we did.” Steve pointed out as he stood and began to move to his door. “I’ll see you soon?”

                “Absolutely. Soon.”

                After they had hung up he stared at the phone for a moment, completely in awe at his luck. He hadn’t known that morning when he had woken that he would be meeting his other half. He had no idea that hours later he would be on his way to the man that makes him Complete’s house. In that moment he was never more grateful for the ice that froze him for seventy years and gave him the chance to know Bucky Barnes.

**Author's Note:**

> I really do like how this is going, despite the different style i wrote it in, but am unsure if i should continue. I've got ideas for a few more chapters so just let me know with comments and kudos if you guys liked it and would want more! Thanks so much for reading. :D


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